Each month, I explore a pre-selected year in movie history. During the month, I'll watch and review a dozen or so movies from the same year. How do these movies compare to their contemporaries? What do these movies reveal about the era they were made? How does history influence the movies? Are these movies relevant today?

Two of the movies I watched from 1929 (Applause and Broadway Melody) involved young women trying to make a living in show business in New York. In both movies, they make a reference to going out for some chop suey. This stuck out to me because although I've heard of the dish, I don't think I've ever tasted it. I've eaten Chinese food plenty of times, but I can't recall if chop suey was ever even on the menu.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

It's not movie-related, but today is the 80th anniversary of the Valentine's Day Massacre, the infamous gangland killing in Chicago. The most common theory is that it was masterminded by Al Capone, but I think it was just manufactured by Hallmark to sell flowers for funerals.